How do I rename the “home” directory on my Macbook?

Dave, I purchased a used macbook from a friend and need to change the Home Icon (House) name from his to mine, but I can’t find information anywhere to do this. It is driving me crazy. Can you possibly assist?

It took me a while to figure out what you were talking about, and the first time I read this question I thought you were talking about the home icon. What I believe you’re asking me instead is how to change the default account name on a Mac.
This is a slightly dangerous maneuver, actually, because you can get into all sorts of trouble if you log in to the computer and there’s no appropriate home directory. As a result, what I suggest is that rather than delete the old account or rename it, I’m going to show you how to create a new account for yourself then change the settings on your Mac so that your new account is the default login account when you restart the system.
Before we start, ask your friend for the password he used and write it down. Somewhere along the way with this process your system won’t automatically be logging in to his account (or her account, as appropriate) so you’ll want to ensure that doesn’t cause trouble for you later. If he doesn’t remember, well, we’ll proceed and I’ll highlight what you can do to fix things if it’s an issue.
First step is to go to Apple –> System Preferences… and choose “Accounts”. It’ll look roughly like this:

Notice that under “Dave Taylor” on the left side you can see “Admin”. That’s what you want, and it’s probably listing the name of your friend. We could change it in the “User Name” field, but that doesn’t change everything in the system.
Instead, click on the ~ez_ldquo+ez_rdquo~ button on the lower left. Now you can set up a new account for yourself. Make sure you specify “Administrator” as the account type too:

I suggest that your “short name” be just your last name, but it’s any sequence of letters and digits so you could do “mike007″ if you wanted too. Specify values for all the fields, double check that you’ve selected Administrator as the account type and click on “Create Account”.
Since I never know when someone from MI6 might want to borrow my laptop, I’ve gone ahead and set up an account for James Bond (with a picture of the only true Bond too):

You’ll again want to double-check that you’ve selected “Allow user to administer this computer” and, if you’d like, add an appropriate picture as the icon rather than using one of the boring default images from Apple.
Almost done. That’s your account set up. Now, to change your Macbook so that it automatically logs in as you, rather than as the old owner. This is done by clicking on “Login Options” on the lower left. It’ll show something like this:

If you do want it to automatically log in to your account each time you start up, simply choose the correct account name from the “Automatic login” pop-up menu:

It’ll ask for the password to that account as a security precaution. Enter it, close the window, and restart your Macbook.
That’s it. You should now have your “home” directory appropriately named and, more importantly, you’re now running in your own account without having to worry about any of the old files from your friend.
If you want, you can go into his old directory structure and copy or delete files too. Just go to your Home, then go up one level and find his home.
Hope that helps you out of this pickle!

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I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by
buying you a cup of coffee!

5 comments on “How do I rename the “home” directory on my Macbook?”

Dave – my question is similar to the one above about renaming my Mac. The machine had a previous owner who reinstalled the OS and named the machine “JohnDoe”. In the Finder, the name by the house is “JohnDoe”. I have created a new admin account in my name as you direct. When I booted from the OS DVD to change password, it listed my account as “phil(JOHNDOE)”. I don’t seem able to get rid of this JohnDoe.
Ideas?

Hi Dave, I was following your instructions, but lacking control in impulsivity, I raced ahead excitedly without seeing your bolded warning, “make sure you select the administrator”, what do I do now? I now have a standard account, and am now not an administrator of my computer aarrgh, please help!

Question: I bought a used macbook, twice removed from the original owner. No password was provided to change the ownership of the computer.
How can I change ownership in the About the Mac>More Info window? I did not receive the original start up disc(s).
I appreciate your advice.

Yes very helpful, or you can just edit the existing info for the other person/place on the account your changing, just hit;
Address book card–open (in accounts) and edit the info, swings and roundabouts I suppose (providing you have all the old info for the mac, passwords etc it works fine.)
Thanks for the info
Niall